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Robert
Smith The Bookie's Favourite To Win Inaugural Ladbrokes Speed
Jumping Challenge |
Top
seed Robert Smith, the UKs number one ranked show jumper,
will start as the bookies favourite to win the inaugural £20,000
Ladbrokes Speed Jumping Challenge - live on BBC Grandstand at Ascot
Racecourse this Sunday (28.9.03).
Riding Kalusha, ranked 38th on the British Show Jumping Associations
(BSJA) horse seedings list, Smith has been quoted the 3/1 favourite
by sponsors Ladbrokes ahead of 7/2 joint second favourites Nick
Skelton (Pandur) and Keith Shore (Pakko), seeded second and third
respectively.
The Ladbrokes Speed Jumping Challenge is the worlds first
ever Speed Jumping event and will see sixteen of the UKs leading
show jumpers race each other in four straight, identical lanes of
seven fences over approximately one-and-a-quarter furlongs of Ascots
National Hunt Course. The winner of each race will be the first
past the post with the fewest number of fences knocked down.
A hybrid of show jumping and thoroughbred racing, Speed Jumping
is a whole new discipline for the countrys leading show jumpers,
demanding a skilful balance of precision and speed. The concept
was dreamt up by the BBCs John Inverdale, brand image expert
Simon Jameson, show jumper Nick Skelton and ex-horse trainer Charlie
Brooks.
Nick Skelton, winner of 1252 international events over the last
three decades, said: The top riders are right behind this
new sport and I really hope its takes off.
A lot of thought and considerable time has been put into the
planning of this inaugural event and weve received invaluable
support from within both racing and show jumping, including the
event sponsor Ladbrokes, Ascot Racecourse, the BBC, the BHB and
Olympia. Speed Jumping should provide a great spectacle for TV viewers
and race goers alike as the action will be fast-paced, entertaining,
colourful and exciting. Its not a gimmick, theres prize
money at stake, and the riders are taking it very seriously. It
will be done properly and should provide a great boost for both
show jumping and racing.
From 2004 and beyond, we hope to stage further Speed Jumping
events at race meetings around the country, he added.
The Ladbrokes Speed Jumping Challenge will form part of the action
at the Ascot Festivals NSPCC Family Day this Sunday. The afternoons
action will comprise four Heats of four starting at 13.15hrs, with
the first two in each Heat progressing to the Semi-Finals at 15.45hrs
and the best two in each Semi contesting the Final, to be shown
live on BBC Grandstand, at 16:00hrs.
The riders are seeded one to sixteen, based on the aggregate BSJA
ranking of rider and horse, and lane positions will be drawn at
random. Lanes will be colour coded to make viewing easier for spectators.
In order of seeding, the full list of riders and horses is as follows
with Ladbrokes odds in brackets (available until the start of the
first heat on Sunday afternoon):
1. Robert Smith, Kalusha (3/1)
2. Nick Skelton, Pandur (7/2)
3. Keith Shore, Pakko (7/2)
4. Michael Whitaker, Haddon House Carlson (6/1)
5. Tim Stockdale, Fresh Direct Landed Gentry (10/1)
6. Mark Armstrong, Rex (12/1)
7. John Whitaker MBE, Petite Jolie (10/1)
8. Peter Charles, Mulligan (14/1)
9. Duncan Inglis, Lavaletto (20/1)
10. Damien Charles, Racal B (20/1)
11. Di Lampard, Leo Z (25/1)
12. Scott Smith, Landwind 19 (40/1)
13. Richard Davenport, Hors Bors Des Isles (33/1)
14. James Fisher, Socks (40/1)
15. Geoff Billington, Timbuctoo (33/1)
16. Chloe Bunn, Buddy Bunn (100/1)
Race Times:
Heats 1-4 13:15hrs 13:35hrs
Semi Finals 15:45hrs 15:55hrs
Final 16:00hrs
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